Impressions

After unboxing the Lumia 830, I fiddled with the phone for about 90-minutes, taking some calls, shooting some photos, updating apps, and giving it a run down. I have to admit I am impressed with it. The 1.2 GHz processor, while certainly not the fastest, feels buttery smooth when navigating the OS. I have had the same experience with the Lumia 735, which I made my daily driver last week because it is so fun to use.

The display being IPS LCD is not as saturated as the Lumia 730's AMOLED, but this all comes down to user preference as each as its benefits and negatives. The display on the Lumia 830 is muted for colors, but it improves when set to Vivid under the display settings. It very much reminds me of the Lumia 920's screen.

Coming in at 150 grams, the Lumia 830 is significantly lighter than the Lumia 930/Lumia Icon (167 grams), and the venerable Lumia 920, which is a staggering 185 grams. The Lumia 830 is also thinner at just 8.5 mm versus the 9.7 mm width of the Lumia 930. Although the difference on paper seems nominal, you do feel the difference when holding the Lumia 830, and I prefer it.

The only thing the Lumia 830 is lacking comes down to 'Hey Cortana', the forthcoming passive-voice feature for Microsoft's Cortana personal assistant which lets you use the service hands-free. Other than this, you are giving up a beefier processor. Does this matter? Well, I have a powerful and massive Lumia 1520 and Lumia Icon readily available for my carriers, and I had no complaints in using the Lumia 735 all week. This experience tells me for the average user, nope; this is not a problem.

My only gripe so far is the front capacitive buttons, which have weak haptic feedback and only light up under the darkest situations.

Camera

The Lumia 830's camera is exactly where you would expect it to fall on the Lumia spectrum. It is certainly below the Lumia 930's ability, which has 20 MP, but it is also significantly better than the rear camera on the Lumia 735.

Photos are sharp as a tack, and the colors are on the muted side. For the pro camera people, this result is probably a good thing (it is easier to go vivid in post).

The one downside, at least for now, is the 10 MP camera only shoots in JPEG. Therefore, even though this is PureView, it cannot shoot in DNG/RAW. However, the forthcoming update for Lumia Camera may still resurrect that feature, along with adding a few new abilities as well. That app update is due later in Q4, and it is certainly one to watch.

Speed is surprisingly quick for a Lumia camera. This comment is not to say there is no delay as you do have just under 2 seconds between taking a photo and saving, and it feels very comparable to the Lumia 1520's speed. Once again, this may improve with the Lumia Camera update, so we will have to wait and see.

The front-facing camera is an economical 0.9 MP fixed focus job, which is not on the high end at all. Two caveats though: it is sharp and alternatively, you can use the Lumia Selfie app in Auto mode and use the 10 MP rear camera, which works brilliantly. So long as you are not cropping the self-pic, the front-facing camera is what it is, but not as bad as some people had feared.

When used for Skype, the front-facing camera continued to look sharp, and the other person noted that the video image look great being clear and bright. Once again, this camera was better than expected.

Wrapping it up

I am using the Lumia 830 (RM-984 variant) on AT&T for the next week. Like the Lumia 735 I have (RM-1038), both devices perform well under HSPA and HSPA+ data speeds, with reliable reception.

So far, though, I am highly fascinated with the Lumia 830, and it is likely to be my go-to phone when the AT&T version hits the market early next month ( November 7). Let us just hope that AT&T does not completely hobble the Qi wireless charging.

Finally, does the Lumia 830 serve as a nice upgrade to the Lumia 920? My initial thought is yes, it does, but I shall follow up on that in a separate article after comparing the two.

Sad to say when I show people my 1520 all I get is ' is that a galaxy! Most people at my job don't know anything about Windows phone and that is very sad. I can only count three people with windows phone including myself and that's out of about 800 people.

I don't understand why people want phones with specs that will eat a big chunk out of your paycheck or have to get on contract. I'm in the US and done with expense phones and contracts. I'm on a 635 from a 520. When this phone is out for $350-375 (non-eBay). I'll pick it up and be happy. I read att is getting the 930 and new HTC next month. Sign a contract and be there slave for a shinny device.

They do come on, but they are less likely to do so in normal light, so they have a higher threshold for darkness. Right now, it's 1:30 PM, I'm in my office, natural light, a little bit of light from lamp and the button lights are off.

Excellent write-up Daniel. This phone looks brilliant, especially with that vibrant orange backplate. The black version gets a darker frame, similar to the 930 you flashed in the video. I'm considering getting a black 830 and an orange plate.

I would love to see this devices in Argentina. We got almost the complete x20s spectrum and the x00, x10 too but so far we only got the 630 here, no 530 or 930 and there is a good WP market here as I see WPs everywhere. Hope to get this 830 and the 730 soon though I'm not changing my beloved 1520 until the next WP phablet hits the market. Great unboxing! Thanks.

830 a good phone? Certainly. But will I move from My 920 to 830? Hell, no. For me to upgrade, the phone specs should be 5" display, Full HD resolution, 8xx processor, more than 8MP pureview camera, more than 1MP FCC, 32GB of internal memory, Must have glance screen, high quality audio, 4G, Wireless charging.
Do I like external memory card? Yes but not mandatory. So does dual sim. In other words, a future Lumia? May be a 940? Lets hope :-)

Congratulations. I still can't decide, I am very confused about L930 and their missing features (microSD, Glance). But there is worse CPU in L830 and I think the L1520 is too big for me (and also it has not so cool design like L930 has).

For me, this is the most beautiful Lumia design to date. Thinness, big screen, small bezels, light weight. The 830 replaced my 920 (which still kicks ass, but use it as my work phone now). Yep, in lurve with the 830 :)

Hi, I am already using nokia Lumia 920 but I dont think that 830 is worth 26+ k rupees as you can buy moto g2 and zenfone 5 for half the price. I agreed that 830 has a great camera but not worth the price.

I have had my unlocked 830 for 2 weeks now to replace a damaged 1020. Excellent phone. Two killer features for me, memory card slot so I carry all my music (35Gig) and removable battery so I can carry a spare. I would highly recommend

Yes, they should be around the $300 range for a mid range phone, in my opinion. Also consolidate around three levels, the 5 series for lower end, the 7 series for mid and 9 series for high end and 10 series for phablets.

I think a large number of people are waiting for the Note 4 to hit the stores so they can decide between it and the new IPhone 6+. Chances are most 920 owners will be jumping ship to the newest high-end Android or Apple device.

I thought the same thing, but there seems to be a glimmer of hope on the Microsoft.com Lumia 830 product page. It shows the AT&T Lumia 830 with black or green as the color choices, and what I found interesting, it lists the new Nokia DT-903 Wireless Charging Plate and the DC-50 Portable Wireless Charging Plate as "Recommended accessories". Could this mean AT&T left the Qi wireless charging intact? Or did Microsoft make a mistake on the product page?. Here's a link to the page: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/phone/lumia830/
Also, if you go to the product page for the DT-903, it lists the Lumia 735 and Lumia 830 as "Recommended devices".

Really wish this would make it to T-Mobile, but I'd probably have to wait another 6 months for a variant of some kind. I don't mind the incremental update from my 925, the expandable storage is the most important factor for me.

They really need to stop putting the micro USB on the top of phones. This is a poor place to put it if you need to have it plugged in while talking on the phone. The connector van get damaged internally. Also, is the qi built into the interchangeable back plates? Maybe it will be a quick fix if effing AT$T decides to remove it.

Is the "metal" band on the outside actually metal or a metal plated plastic? Read somewhere that it was plastic but couldn't believe it. I like the idea of this phone, but the design looks confused between curves and corners. I guess I'll have to buy one to make a proper judgement.

I'm thinking the same thing. I love my 920. But would have liked my next phone to be able to have the "hey Cortana" capabilities. And not just for that specifically but I assume other features and functions will come out of that extra special hardware as well. Also I like Daniels point of mentioning att hobbling the Qi. I love that feature built in the 920. And the cost to add that to a phone is so small, in price and physically. It barely adds weight or thickness. Carriers should not be able to weigh in on the phone specs. I'm tiered of seeing flagships getting neutered. And the clip on backs for the 1020 that allow for Qi are an embarrassing solution. Cases for that phone are made for the bare 1020, the add on Qi back adds more thickness to the 1020 then it would have it were just built in, they could have came up with a Qi solution in the camera grip but that was also a missed opportunity. Back to the 920, I still don't feel like there is a true successor. Also, only thing I wish my 920 had that was available when it was released, is micro SD expansion. Also, while not a feature, a better gasket that fully seals the front facing camera, hello!? It is like a planned design failure. I guess I was hoping for similar form factor with updated guts, a little thinner, a little lighter, possibly slightly larger screen with overall thinner bezels. Heck, maybe even a real flash. Are you listening Microsoft? You have all the tools you need to make your good phones great!

The 930 is still not coming to the U.S. yet as far as the associate from the Microsoft Store! If it is; he said it would be locked to another carrier! I hope T-Mobile pick it up and offers it in more colors! I know White is the only color T-Mobile seems to either like or that Nokia now Microsoft is able to discount! I kind hate white for Lumia phones now 925 and 521 and now the 635 - all White only!

I'll keep my 920 another year maybe. I hope good things come out of the first true Microsoft phones. And I was all in to Nokia, but lately there has been too many trade offs in deciding which phone is best. You should be able to spend a little more money and just get all the options you want in a true flagship.

Don't forget, this is a larger screen with a lower resolution. A lot of ppi in other words, to lazy to do the math. This may be noticeable after moving from a 92x. Remember, the 92x are higher resolution than the retina™ displays of the iPhones.

The 830 does look promising, but I don't hear enough praise for the 930 in any article I've been reading lately. The 930 has the 20MP camera and faster processor + more RAM, and if you like the design of the 830, it's exactly like the 930 except the 930 is slightly thicker and heaveir due to better hardware. I know this article is about the 830 but I think it's gotta be mentioned if you can spend the little bit more, you gotta go the 930. Otherwise go the 830. The display on the 930 is ridiculously good as well. I know guys with iPhone 6's and when they see my 930 they say wow that looks like a sweet phone. The 930 should be hyped from all areas but I feel like it isn't. If it was I think it could've gotten closer to being an iPhone killer.

He said they light when its really dark. This would be terribly annoying. They need to be the opposite. And only be dimly lite when extremely dark and really bright when they have to fight the ambient light.

I am still wondering why did they price lumia 830, almost double the price of 730.
For this price range they could have made the hardware a lot better. As this kind of hardware is obsolete from the market completely now. even the smaller brands have higher specs.

I think after Nokia's overtake, microsoft is decieving indian customer's now.

India is still the nokia's largest share of customer around the world. Almost as many as rest of the world.
Still they launch their new products all over the world first and then finally in india after a long wait.
Their Products are sold at a highest price in india as compared to any other countries, some times more than double rate.
All there products have, is a camera, nothing else much.
Their app store sucks, till now. Google has kicked their ass and blocked them from using any google apps.
Since microsoft, our beloved brand nokia has fallen down the standards really low.

But tell you what Microsoft, we Indians are not fools. We have enough options now and you amongst them, sucks most.
Good buy Nokia

Agreed, for Lumia phones they don't need to extend further. But HTC should really follow up with the HTC 8X, I've had strangers asking me what phone it is, they had a nice design going there, hope they don't abandon it.

I found 830 is a better option for those 920 users that wants removable battery and SD card, i have a chance to test drive it and very impressed, a mid range phone for Lumia line, but the performance is comparable to High end android phone and iphone 6.

Eh... No Snapdragon 800, no significant upgrade from the 920's camera or display. LESS BUILT IN MEMORY! No 4k video shooting. It is very pretty, and the perfect size, but not a significant update to my 920.

Same I get the feeling I'm gonna regret it if I upgrade from my 820 to this phone. I'll be patient and wait out the 5 months I have left on contract. I could upgrade in 3 months without penalty but I'm looking for something with a bit more value.

My brothers got a Nexus 5 and it makes the 830 look like a lil ant in terms of bang for your buck. Plus I'm tired of no support for WP from the premier motorsport organisations.

I totally with those who have said that there is no compelling reason to upgrade from a 920 right now. My 920 is in perfect condition and I don't want to lock into a 2 year contract on a new Windows phone that is only incrementally better than what I have right now. I like the direction that MS is going, but they need to have truly compelling upgrades available or users like myself will abandon the platform.

Still not convinced by the chipset. I have a NL920. Looks like the 830's chipset performance is on par with the old S4 Pro. What happened to the Snapdragon 600 series with Adreno 320? All phones have either Snapdragon 400 or Snapdragon 800.

Lumia 820 was too big/heavy, unimpressive. Most Samsung devices are 'meh', only the ATIV SE is interesting. Lumia 822 is pretty hideous and boring. LUmia 810 was a block of snooze. I can name a few others...

830 would be a flop like others.According to me Windows is struggling hard and begging other oems where they have enough power to snatch users from Android because many Android users are concern about smartphone price,onsheet specs.Right now Windows doesnt have ability to snatch users from iphone because they are iphone users :p

First satya(ceo) must stop treating microsoft has software manufacture and he must decide what first WP or mobile..

if WP then they must follow the strategy of chinese companies like oppo,lenovo,gionee,especially XIAOMI.At least for one device a year(cheap,high onsheet specs).

if mobile then good job microsoft you are in right direction :p

if Microsoft going to increase their users for wp then they must enter with cheap mobiles(as i said above) in china,india etc Asia countries.

they must understand they cant make a dent(wp) where their is already a hole(ios,android).....refers to usa.

The Lumia 830 is okay, but as I reach the 2 year mark on my AT&T contract so does my Lumia 920 also seem okay. The Lumia 1520 would be a step up for me, but that would mean going for a model that has been out for a full year. If an HTC One does actually come to AT&T that would have the specs that would interest me, but I'd probably worry too much that their commitment and support for the platform wouldn't live up to the standard that Nokia set. So, it looks like this holiday will have disappointing options and it may be best to see how things look come springtime.

This will be my next phone. I had the 920 and loved it but it was heavy and ripped my suit jacket pocket. I changed to the 925 and think its a great phone as well especially the slim profile. What I want is a 5 inch display and wireless charging. I'm disappointed that it won't have hey Cortana but I think there's always a trade off in 1 way or another.
Believe it or not I also want the cp 627 case as it gives protection plus wireless charging and only adds a fraction of thickness being the screen cover. I see the Samsung crowd having this in their galaxys and have wanted it for a while now.
I never use a case I hate them. I will make an exception for this one though. Saying that it looks like it could have been made better with reference to the speaker holes.
I will buy the Lumia 830 but it'll be temporary until the unaffotdable flagship is released...

I'll wait for the benchmarks and final review from WPC and other outlets, but my initial impression is that it might be a nice upgrade for about a year or less, not sure if it will still be as nice as my 920 has been for almost two years now. This phone was pretty high end in 2012, and is still smooth with acceptable performance (at least for me). It is hard to predict with any hardware, but I'm not sure if the 830 would be a keeper for 2 years like the 920 has been for me.

While the design of the 830 is great, it isn't as classy as the 920 or 820, IMO. Especially the plastic around the headphone jack and USB port and the brightest of the icons on the capacitive buttons. Small details matter.

And I'm still no fan of the Start screen Live Tile layout on HD displays...

Hey Dan
I'm in canada with Fido and thinking to upgrade to this, I just love the looks of device and all the other perks i'm getting. I always wanted the topnotch specs but with this phone i dunno why im attracted to it and i started to think that this phone is about experience not just hardware but overall joy to use a phone.

I'm waiting for your full review to see how it performs in real life, becuase my 920 is sluggish sometimes and it just gives me 6-8 hrs of battery backup, so please provide an extensive review about real world usage and battery life.

The time it takes to save photo is still really long. They need to make it more like HTC or iPhone camera where you can take pictures one after the other fast. Also can you show some web browsing in these reviews? Web page rendering speed will be important for a lot of people.

In theory yes. I actually think Microsoft will want to upgrade as many devices as possible to 10 too so that the new OS is seen as a big success. The worry is with the 830's old processor and it's ability to handle Windows 10's new features in say 15 months time.

If this can be picked up for about 219 - 299 USD from TMO or ATT, then I'd try it out... Above that I feel it seems like a nice device, but overpriced. Though I understand if others don't feel the same.

However, with you going in depth, I'm actually now only 90% sure I'll go with the One on 11/7 (I probably will like and use "Hey Cortana"). After switching to an ATIV S Neo and LOVING it way more than the 920, I figured I'd be gone from Nokia, but this review has me giving the 830 a passing fancy.

I'd like to see some comparisons between this and the One in terms of screen, responsiveness, thinness and the cameras.

Hey Cortana is only exclusive to Lumia devices e.g Lumia 930 and 1520.
The reason is because its been enabled by the Denim firmware. So beware when your buying HTC.
If MS enables it through OS,then it will be available to HTC too.

Only the Icon/930 and 1520 will support it. With phones like the OnePlus One and the Nexus line within the same price point as the 830 with better specs, it really should've had an 800 processor. It would've been my next but now I'll either wait for a successor to the 1020, wait for Windows 10 or see what's going on with Android and pick up a Moto G 2nd gen or something.

The camera hump would still need to be thick if they are going to use a large sensor again. With that said, the rest of the phone could be slim but then the media would complain about a hugh protruding hump, failing to realize the laws of physics say that a huge 1/1.5 or greater sensor and optics has to fit SOMEWHERE in the phone.

I would rather have the hump and have superior optics and sensors than small sensors and software that tries to compensate for the lack thereof.

I love my 808's 1/1.2 sensor and the hump that provides a powerful dual capicitor Xenon flash plus a LED flash as well. Sensor over thinness for camera flagships is the way to go. If you are going for thin and just a great camera then there are other non camera centric devices. To have a truly amazing or groundbreaking camera, you need room for the amazing and groundbreaking hardware.

My 1020 takes vastly superior pictures than my 1520 due to the larger sensor and better optics and mechanical shutter. All of that hardware takes up space and I hope that Microsoft remembers that and doesn't cheap out and use a smaller sensor, weak and thin Xenon, no ND Filter or mechanical shutter in the race to be thin.

My 920 also has an IPS screen and I really love it. Highly readable, even in bright light, and I love the more natural look of the colours. To me, this spec level bodes well for the big fellas that will be released in line with Windows 10. One thing I think they should have done is popped in the improved FFC, buy I appreciate why they didn't.

This is the logical upgrade path for my 720. Battery? Since after Cyan the battery life with my 720 is nothing short of delicious; more than a day of average usage means I love this phone even more than before...

Looks like you're loving the phone as much as I am. Such a complete device for my money... most beautiful phone on the market? Check. Build quality? Check. Glance? Check. Size? Close to ideal. Removable battery? Yup. Exchangeable back covers for the style-savvy/conscious. Yes sir. Expandable memory? You bet. The most complete Lumia device to date outside of the 1520, which proved to be just a little too big... not to mention a bit annoying with the swipe/tap/scroll bug.

LTE vs H and H+ speeds on T-Mobile have been virtually indiscernable for me, so I'll be sticking with the RM-984 variant. I use HERE Maps and stream live video regularly, and it has been every bit as fluid as doing so on my Lumia 1520.3 using LTE. In fact, I get to save battery by switching my max connetion speed to 3G. Battery life, by the way, is surprisingly terrific.

I really have no complaints... I have the phone in orange and have ordered the other three back cover colors. I do, however, wish a bright yellow back cover was made like the one for the Lumia 635. That would look beautiful with that metal frame.

Is that the same for 925? I was in the good old U S of A for a month in mid August to mid September and bought an AT&T sim for that period, cost me $60 but couldn't get LTE on it, just H+ and the customer service chap had no clue, also tried to make out US 4G/LTE on that network must be slower than mine in the UK, I don't think so but then again I'm no expert on AT&T speeds.

Off topic. Daniel did you notice that when you are in an app and a notification comes trough you can't scroll up and down in the app you are in untill you dismiss the notification or wait for it to disappear?

Brace yourself for an incoming comment about how the current price isn't even close to being affordable. If it cost 300EUR I would get it in a heartbeat, but unfortunately at current 400EUR a pop it's a bit steep. Shame really, thought about getting this phone, would even overlook the fact that it's a bit big for me.

I agree overpriced considering Google are gonnabe releasing the Nexus 6 in the next 48 hours which is likely to be cheaper in the UK than the 830 is. I just don't know what to do. I was looking at upgrading from the 630 for Christmas but now I'm not sure. Sounds like the Camera isn't as good as I hoped and that was my main reason for upgrading. Gutted a bit by this though I still love Windows Phone. Confused.

There was a sale in Germany on 930 for 300EUR... And I've missed it... Dang! But there's gonna be another one, but this time for 350EUR. My only issue (except the size) with 930 is no microSD. The sacrifices I would have to make to fit my favorite albums on, whatever you get left of those 32GBs.

With 800 procesor phones you can use Cortana hands free. You get denim earlier and benefit of the new Lumia camera. Windows 10 to be a announced in 2015. And so on, so for improving the experience I think that that are doing the best they can.

I want to buy 830 or 735. Most important for me is a picture quality & price. Please make comparison about picture quality between 730/735 & 830 because as for now they give comparable image quality (on tripod)

Can you lot not import European phones? I know very little about the standards in terms of type of mobile frequencies. I know even less about the carriers, but it seems that AT&T and Verizon have some weird stranglehold on you guys. In the UK I can usually buy any phone, and stick in a sim card. However, with Phones 4 U gone, Carphone Warehouse have an awful monopoly, and they may be on borrowed time.

Because corporations rule our government and the average person is too stupid to see past Democrat/Republican. Frequencies could easily be standardized as was done for TV but the corps will stop it before it can even be brought up for debate.

Also, you mention weak haptic feedback from the capacitive buttons but I've always found it too strong on previous Lumias (620 and 925) so I turned it off to save a few minutes of battery life. I don't think haptic feedback's very useful since you're probably looking at the screen while using those buttons.

You've had more experience (obviously) than I have with them, but I've had a few Lumia 920s (just got #4 refurbished from AT&T) and I've noticed a fairly significant difference in the haptic feedback even between identical models of phones.

Not only from one Lumia to another but also from one 830 to another. Had to sent my first 830 back because of a buggy screen digitizer. And the new device has a remarkably stronger haptic feedback from the hardware buttons.

And btw, have you tried to remove a micro SD card? This is the worst slot mechanism ever!

Awesome. I love my 820 and the main reasons are, the fit in my hand, the SD card option and the best, the removable / replaceable battery. I think it's time to upgrade to the 830. Removable battery phones are the best, only because having battery problems leaves you quite fucked over any other kind of problem.